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Theme for the 16th City of Ryde Community Prayer Breakfast
The Drama of Australia’s Christian Heritage: A Play in Five Acts The story of the contribution of Christian faith to the development of Australia is a great drama.
This dramatic story is here told in five short stories covering our history:
- Forerunners to 1788;
- Founders to 1855;
- Fathers to 1913;
- Fighters to cover the period of the depression and the two world wars; and
- Fusionists, those who have consolidated our society in the last half-century.
Showcasing Australia’s Christian heritage in this way shows that there has been throughout our history a strong correlation between vital Christian commitment and national stability, economic prosperity and social reform.
The most potent single factor in the formation, preservation, and transformation of Australian values and nationhood has been the Christian faith. This is a drama which needs to be known if Australia is to have a great future.
Guest Speaker
 Associate Professor Stuart Piggin is Director of the Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience at Macquarie University.
He is Chairman of Australia’s Christian Heritage National Forum which held its first forum in Parliament House, Canberra, which was sponsored by thirteen parliamentary hosts and attended by 380 prominent Australians.
Stuart lectured in History at the Universities of Wollongong and Sydney from 1974 to 1990 and was Master of Robert Menzies College, Macquarie University, from 1990 to 2004.
He is the Founding Director of the Macquarie Christian Studies Institute which offers courses in Christian Studies to undergraduates.
He is interested in the contribution of Christianity to nation building, the place of spirituality in personal formation, and the human impact of disasters.
His seven books include The Mount Kembla Disaster (1992) and Evangelical Christianity in Australia (1996), both published by Oxford University Press. The latter was reprinted in 2004 by Strand Publishing as Spirit of a Nation.
Stuart is married to Rosemary, a medico, has two married daughters, and a grandson, Isaac.
He is a fanatical supporter of the Sydney Swans and believes that we’ll all be playing AFL in heaven.
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